Contents

"This is going to sit inside you forever… and if I'm going to die, I want to really think about this. Imagine actually killing Alderann. Alderann of all places! Alderaan is nice. Who'd blow up Alderaan? Hell of a place. Incredible history. Good party town. Hell, even had great sunsets. Now it doesn't even have a sky."

The cities on Alderaan were carefully designed to respect the natural beauty of their environment. For example, the palace of the royal family and the city around it blended into the local snow-capped peaks. Alderaanian architecture made use of white synthstone, which inspired the architecture of certain mining economies of the Outer Rim Territories, like the floating colony of Cloud City, and the planets Lothal and Garel.[1]

Ten years later, Alderaan was represented in the Senate by ViceroyBail Organa,[28] the prince consort of the planet's ruler, QueenBreha Organa.[8] At that time, the Republic was facing a secessionist crisis due to the existence of the Confederacy of Independent Systems led by CountDooku, pushing the galaxy to the brink of war. Through Organa, Alderaan was a member of Chancellor Palpatine's Loyalist Committee, which concerned itself with the stability of the Republic during the Separatist crisis and would later strive to limit Palpatine's increasing executive authority. That year, an army of clones was discovered on the planet Kamino, which would be appropriated by the Senate in order to combat the Separatists. To save the Republic from the impending threat, the Supreme Chancellor was granted emergency powers, a decision that was contrary to the pacifist values of Alderaan and its representative and which ultimately led to the outbreak of the Clone Wars.[28]

With the Clone Wars coming to an end, Chancellor Palpatine abolished the Republic, establishing the Galactic Empire in its stead.[8] However, a small number of systems rebelled against this new regime,[2] and the Alliance to Restore the Republic was ultimately formed by Bail Organa and his former colleague in the Galactic Senate, Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila.[30] During this time, Alderaan became the Alliance's main source of munitions. The planet's crown princess and representative in the Imperial Senate, Princess Leia Organa,[2] adoptive daughter of Bail and Breha Organa, began using her diplomatic immunity as an Imperial senator to carry out Rebel missions in restricted Imperial systems.[31]

About three years before the Battle of Yavin, Senator Bail Organa dispatched three Sphyrna-class corvettes to the Phoenix Cell, which has sustained losses while fleeing Garel. Since Alderaan could not be seen directly supporting the rebels, Senator Organa arranged for his adopted daughter Leia to deliver the vessels to Lothal. The Alderaanians risked losing their seat in the Imperial Senate among other Imperial sanctions. Senator Organa had arranged for the crew of the Ghost to "steal" the ships from an Imperial depot on Lothal so that Alderaan could not be blamed for the "theft." With the help of the crew of the Ghost and the former GovernorRyder Azadi, Leia managed to deliver the three Hammerhead corvettes to the Phoenix rebels following a skirmish at the Imperial depot.[31]

In 0 BBY, shortly before the Battle of Scarif, Senator Bail Organa headed towards Alderaan to tell their people that there would "be no peace,"[33] after the plans for the Death Star, a planet-killing Imperial superlaser, were discovered. The plans were later stolen from the data vault on Scarif, and transferred aboard the Tantive IV. Princess Leia of Alderaan, Bail's adopted daughter and thus member of the Elder Houses was captured by the Imperial Navy while smuggling the plans to the Alliance base. Organa was taken prisoner by the Sith LordDarth Vader, the Emperor's second-in-command, and brought before the Death Star's commanding officer, Grand MoffWilhuff Tarkin. Under threat of destroying her planet, Leia gave a fake location of the rebel base to Tarkin, only to have Tarkin destroy Alderaan anyway, noting that Dantooine was too remote for an "effective demonstration." The Imperials forced the princess to witness the obliteration of her home planet, an act that Tarkin hoped would instill fear among the secessionist systems in an effort to keep them in line. The planet's destruction left only an asteroid field behind,[2] which was blockaded by the Empire.[34]

Almost immediately after the Battle of Yavin, Leia Organa would embark on a mission to rescue the survivors of Alderaan from Imperial reprisals following the destruction of the First Death Star.[35]

On Coruscant, the Empire's planetary capital, the numerous Alderaanian residents of Level 3204 began to hold vigils for those who had perished in what they called "the Disaster." However, as more information became available about the Empire's role in the destruction of Alderaan, the vigils soon turned into riots, which were quickly repressed by brute force.[12] Following the Battle of Yavin, Vader then took the remains of Alderaan to serve as reminders to worlds that attempted to resist the Emperor. Following an assassination attempt on himself at Shu-Torun, Vader then gave Trios, the new Queen of that planet, one of these reminders.[36]

"What act of terror could be more horrible than what happened to Alderaan? Have you forgotten that? I was there. I saw it happen, stood there watching while they destroyed my world, my home, everyone I had ever loved—"

By 5 ABY, a flotilla of starships orbited the Alderaanian graveyard, the new name for the debris remaining of the planet. Princess Leia managed to use her political connections to take scrap from the Death Star, initially intended for incineration, to be used to construct a new space station around the planet.[34]

By the time of the New Republic, Alderaan's destruction would become a stark reminder for future generations about the terrors of the Galactic Empire, and would often be an 'uncomfortable subject' for those that brought up the planet's destruction in conversation. As such, surviving Alderaanians would be treated with great respect for their lost world and people. For collectors, rare bottles of the alcoholic beverage Toniray would become a highly-prized commodity.[17]

Alderaan hosted a population of humans, known as Alderaanians, who were known for their philosophy of paciﬁsm. Even in time of galactic conflicts, the Alderaanians shunned weapons. They were not, however, bereft of spirit, as many of them chose to join the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Their society was ruled by the House of Organa,[19] in conjunction with an individual bearing the titles of Viceroy and First Chairman.[38] The female child of the royal couple was referred to as a princess.[2] For diplomatic missions, the Royal Family used streamlined cruisers.[39]

According to Nash Windrider, on Alderaan, its people were encouraged to learn and grow. All education was free, and people would volunteer to teach various skills or crafts just for fun.[10]

Alderaan first appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the seminal movie of the Star Wars saga. In that movie, the planet was only seen from space during the scene depicting its destruction.[2] In the treatment, rough draft, second draft, and third draft of what would become A New Hope, the name of Alderaan was used for the capital of the "New Galactic Empire." At that time, it was described as a giant gas planet that resembled Bespin, with a city that resembled Cloud City on it. In the second draft of A New Hope, the home planet of Princess Leia was called Organa Major. Aquilae, Utapau and Ophuchi were also considered as names for worlds partially corresponding to Alderaan.[40]

Following the success of A New Hope, a full ancillary world was being built around the movie. In order to get everyone on the same page, George Lucas decided to create a few background stories and ideas. In those notes, Alderaan was described as a four or five million years old Earth-like planet, covered with high snowcapped mountains and green pastures. The same notes also described the planet as being the capital of its star system and possessing its own Senate.[41] In canon, the surface of Alderaan only made its first appearance in the 2005 movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.[8] The planet's mountainous terrain was modelled after a location in the Swiss Alps.[42]